Sugar Land Unable To Mount Comeback Against Tacoma

A four-run fifth put the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (74-42, 25-16) up after trailing by three, but the Tacoma Rainiers (67-50, 24-18) came back to take the game 5-4 on Thursday night at Cheney Stadium.

After retiring six of the first seven batters he faced, RHP AJ Blubaugh faced some trouble in the third when Duke Ellis drew a no-out walk. Ellis stole second and third while Blubaugh got a strikeout for the first out, but Samad Taylor hit a sharp grounder to third base for an out, scoring Ellis and the first run of the ballgame for the Rainiers. Next inning, Jake Slaughter mashed a two-run home run to make it 3-0 Tacoma.

Jesús Bastidas sparked a four-run fifth with a lead-off double. Two pitches later, Omar Narváez singled through the right side off RHP Michael Mariot (W, 8-5) to bring Bastidas home. A walk to César Salazar put two on for Quincy Hamilton, who lasered a liner in the left-center gap for a double, scoring Narváez from second and bringing the Space Cowboys within one. With Salazar on third and Hamilton on second, Cooper Hummel drove both runners in with a single that bounced off the mound and sailed into center field to give Sugar Land the lead at 4-3.

and WE. ARE. UP 🤠 #SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/qkmhfh4NkK

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 16, 2024

The Space Cowboys lead would not last long, as Ryan Bliss slammed a home run to tie the game up at four and Blubaugh’s night ended after 4.1 innings. RHP Misael Tamarez (L, 4-4) took over for Blubaugh with one out in the fifth. The righty gave up a double and an RBI single for the Rainiers to snatch the lead back at 5-4.

Sugar Land threatened in the eighth when Hummel and Kessinger singled to put runners on first and third with one out, but RHP Trevor Kelly (H, 13) recovered to get the next two men and end the frame. RHP Luis Contreras kept the Space Cowboys in it with a shutdown bottom of the eighth, striking out the side in 12 pitches while extending his scoreless innings streak to 12.1. In the ninth, Rainiers RHP Chris Devenski (S, 1) sent the Space Cowboys down in order, closing out the game and handing Sugar Land a 5-4 loss.

The Space Cowboys look to bounce back against the Rainiers on Friday night. Sugar Land’s RHP Ryan Gusto (6-3, 3.80) will take the mound opposite of Tacoma’s RHP Blas Castano (3-2, 5.20) for a 9:05 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.